1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to accessories for vehicles and more specifically, without limitation, to accessories for repairing and maintaining vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles are essential to almost every aspect of everyday life. From time to time, those vehicles require various types of repair or maintenance. Some of the vehicle components requiring such repair or maintenance is readily accessible. Other components may require the use of jacks or hydraulic lifts to elevate the vehicle in order to provide access to the underside of the vehicle.
A commonly available implement for obtaining limited access to the underside of a vehicle is a platform supported on four swivel-mounted wheels, commonly referred to as a creeper. The wheels of such creepers are rigid and have a relatively small diameter so the platform is spaced in close proximity to the underlying floor to thereby enable a user to maneuver a portion of his body under the vehicle while lying face up on the creeper. Unfortunately, due to the small diameter of the wheels, the use of such creepers is limited to areas having a relatively smooth hard surface, such as a concrete floor for example. As a result, such creepers cannot be used on soft surfaces or rough or uneven terrain because the weight of the user bearing down on the creeper causes the wheels to be submerged in the soft underlying surface or unable to surpass even relatively small obstacles.
A not unusual situation is for an off-road vehicle to need repair or maintenance at a location remote from a smooth hard surface floor or a hydraulic lift, wherein work is needed on the underneath side of the vehicle. Since it would be fruitless to transport a prior art creeper to the site of the stranded vehicle because of its inability to operate in such terrain, about the only alternative would be to tow the vehicle to a hydraulic lift or to a smooth hard surface where a prior art creeper could be used.
What is needed is a creeper that can be easily used not only on hard surfaces but also on soft or rough or uneven terrain.